Document sorting device



E. M. KENT 3,008,582

DOCUMENT SORTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. l [Ve/yn M/X /nt BYNov. 14, 1961 Filed Sept. 28, 1959 v y Nillllxir NOV- I4, 1961 E. M.KENT 3,008,582

DOCUMENT SORTING DEVICE Filed Sept. 28, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Oii ice 3,008,582 Patented Nov. 1 4, `13613,008,582 DOCUMENT SORTING DEVICE Mix Kent, 6853 Cornell Ave., Chicago49, I ll. Filed pSept. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 842,888

1.Claim. (Cl. 211--11) I Evelyn This invention relates to a device forsorting business documents such as checks, purchase orders, invoices,

letters and the like.

They principal object of the present `invention is to provide adevicewhich may be of simpleand inexpensive "construction and'readilyand easily handled by office workers, for facilitating the sorting ofbusiness documents according to number, `letter ofthe alphabet orr*other classifying indicia.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device of thecharacter set forth in the preceding object which comprises a pluralityof types of classifying indicia adapted to be used selectively by anoffice worker as desired and as dictated by the type of documents to besorted.

Other and lfurther objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent as this description progresses, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

.FIG/1 is a top plan view of a sorting device corn- -pri'sing apreferred embodiment of myinvention with a portion of the cover brokenaway to facilitate illustration thereof;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, side elevational view of the sorting device shownin FIG.` 1 with the central portion thereof I being broken away;

- of the sortingv device as shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG.A 6 is a Vperspective AView of the bottom dividing sheet of thesorting'device as shown in FIG. l. -The sorting device shown inv thedrawings comprises a 'flat,'e1ongated base plate10 of rectangular shapewhich may'be formedof metal, wood or plastic. Where the base plate 10 iscomposed of'clear transparent plastic, it affords; the advantage vof.permitting an oflice worker to see therethrough to determine if thelower portion of the device has been cleared of sorted documents. A pairof spaced and aligned posts 11 having integrally for-med annular flanges12 on the bases thereof project upwardly through vertical apertures 13extending through the plate 10 at points located adjacent the side edgesthereof and between the center and one of the ends thereof. Each post 11is provided with a screw-threaded head 14 which serves to retain theelements to be described hereinafter mounted on the posts between theheads and the plate 10.

A plurality of dividing sheets 16 vwhich in the embodiment shown in thedrawings total one hundred and which are provided with classificationtabs 17 numbered on the top surfaces from one to one hundred, aremounted in superimposed relation on the posts 11 which serve as sheetsupporting and positioning members. The sheets 16 are somewhat narrowerthan the width of the base plate 10 and their length is considerablyshorter. The one hundred sheets, which may vary in' number andarrangement frorn embodiment to embodiment of the present invention, arearranged in groups of ten sheets each, portions of the sheets beingshown in their entire number in FIG. 3 and the groups being showndiagrammatically as thick individual units indicated Vby referencenumerals 18 to 27, inclusive, in FIG; 2. v

Each sheet 116 is of substantially the samelength and is provided withpairs ofaligned holes 28 adjacentrto" but inwardly spaced from the sideedgesthereof. TheV holes -28 Yof one pair are longitudinally 'spacedfromthe holes 28'of the other pair to anextent which isthe Vsame for thesheets 16 of the samegroup ,but as between the groups 18 to 27,inclusive, of thesheets16 of the spacings of the Vside pairs of holes 28varies .for purposes to be presently explained. As' shown in FIGS.1 and,2, the pairs ofholes 28'of the "top group 18 of sheets 16 are Yspacedfarther apart than the pairs ofnholes 28 ofthe next Vgroup V19 of sheetsnext below, and the pairs of holes 28 of thevnext lowerrsheet groups 20;21, Y22 and A23 become progressively closer together,l the right-handhole of each pair being punchedfurther away from the right or rearwardend of the sorting device. Thus, as

` arranged in FIGS. l and 2, the top sheetgroups18 to .23, inclusive,are secured on the, plate 10 by having the binding posts .11 extendingupwardly through the left or forward holes l28 of each side pair.

As 'further seen in FIGS. 1 and 2,.the free or unoccupied holes 28 ofeach pair of holes of the lower sheet groups 24, 2S, ,26 Vand V27 arelocated on the left Vor forward side of the posts j11 and thislongitudinal spacing of the respective pairs of holes becomesprogressively greater from the sheet group 24 down through the sheetgroup 27. This variation in the longitudinal spacing of the side pairsof holes v28'of the groups 18 to 27,

inclusive, of sheets permits the groups to be turned over and reversedin position so that the top group 18 may be disposed on the postsk1-1 ina manner similar to the bottom group27, the posts 11 being inserted inthe other holes 28 of the respective pairs'.

The tabs 17 of each group of ten sheets` are arranged in transverse rowsor tiers in staggered or non-overlapping relation, the tab 17 of the topsheet 16 of group 18 as viewed in FIGfl bearing the number 1 and theYnumbers on the tabs increasing progressively going down through thestack of sheets, the tab 17 of the lowermost sheet of group 27 bearingthe number 100. Tab 17 bearing the number 1 is located at the forwardlower corner edge of top sheet 16 'while the tab 17 bearing the numberis located at the forward top corner edge of the lowermost sheet.16,v.as viewed in'FIG. 1. The lowermost sheet group 27 extends forwardly orto the left to a greater extent than the superimposed groups So that.the tabs 17 affixed tothe end edges thereof will beexposed and eachsucceeding sheet group 26 to 18,r inclusive, is disposed farther to theright so as to expose the transverse tiers of tabs of the sheet groupspositioned below.

For the purposes of appearance and neatness, the sorting device may beprovided with a exible cover 29 of substantially the same size and shapeas the base plate 10 and being mounted on the posts .11.

Where the device of the present invention is being used to sort checks,`purchase orders, invoices or the like in numerical groups according tothe numbers contained on the documents, the documents being sorted maybe inserted under the respective sheets 16 bear-ing the tab numberrelating to that carried on the respective documents. As the number ofdocuments increases between the respective dividing sheets 16, thesheets 16 will be forced farther apart with the result that the sheets16 will move upwardly on the posts 11 to accommodate the stack ofdocuments. The posts are of substantially greaterheight than thecombined thickness of the dividing sheets 16 and the cover 29. When thedocuments have been sorted according to number, they are removed in thesorted groups and thereafter may be posted or put through otherbookkeeping operations. Because the sheets 16 are transparent, thebookkeeper using the sorting device may rapidly determine whether allthe sorted documents have been cleared and removed.

To permit the sorting device to be used to sort documents alphabeticallyrather than numerically, the tabs 17 are provided on their other orunder surfaces with letters of the alphabet or combinations of lettersof the alphabet running, for example, from Aa to Z. The tab 17 of thetop sheet 16 as viewed -in FIG. 1 bears the numeral 1 on one side andthe letter Z on the other whereas the tab 17 of the bottom sheet bearsthe numeral 100 on the top side and the letters Aa on the bottom, all asshown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings.

To reverse the sorting sheets 16 for use of the alphabetical tabclassilication, the heads 14 may be unscrewed from the tops of the posts11 and the cover 29 and the groups 18 to 27, inclusive, of sheets 16lifted upwardly off the posts, the sheets being maintained in theirrespective groups. Then, group 18 of sheets 16 may be turned over andremounted on the posts 11 but with the posts 11 extending through theright-hand holes 28 which are closer to the right end of the sheets thanare the left-hand tabs 28. Thus, the group 18 of sheets will be causedto extend further to the left in a manner similar to group 27 when thelatter was on the bottom as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Similarly, groups19, Z0, 21, 22 and 23 of sheets 16 are also turned over as separategroups and remounted on the posts 11 by inserting the posts also in theright-hand holes of these groups so that they also will project more tothe left than before.

However, upon turning over the groups 24, 25, 26 and 27 of dividingsheets 16, these `groups will be remounted on the posts 11 by insertingthe post 11 in the left-hand holes in these groups 24, 25, 26 and 27thus causing these groups to extend more to the right than before. Whenthe sheet groups 18 to 27, inclusive, have been so reversed andremounted as above described, the group 27 will be on the top and thegroup 18 on the bottom and the tabs 17 showing the letters of thealphabet in various classiiications will be exposed in tiers. The tab 17bearing the numeral 100 on one side and the letters Aa on the other willnow occupy the former position once occupied by the tab 17 bearing thenumeral 1 and the letter Z, as viewed in FIG. 1, and the tabs on thesheets therebelow will progress through the letters of the alphabet toZ. Similarly, the tab 1 with the letter Z on the reverse side will0ccupy the position formerly occupied by the tab 17 bearing the number100.

The cover Z9 may then be replaced over the reversed sheets 16 and theretaining heads 14 screwed down into the posts into retaining position.The use of the sorting device with the alphabetical indicia of the tabsexposed is then the same as previously described with respect to sortingaccording to numbers.

Although I have shown in the drawings and described above a preferredembodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that changes in thedetails of construction and mode of operation may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A device for sorting documents and the like comprising a base plate,sheet supporting and positioning members comprising upright postscarried by said base plate at the marginal edges thereof respectivelyand extending upwardly in spaced relation from the upper surfacethereo-f, a plurality of dividing sheets arranged in superimposedrelation on said sheet supporting and positioning members and adapted tobe raised one from the other to permit the insertion therebetween ofdocuments being sorted, and tab means secured on one of the end edges ofeach of said sheets in staggered relation from the tab means of theother sheets and having classifying indicia on each side thereof, eachof said sheets being provided with longitudinally spaced pairs of meansadjacent the marginal edges thereof respectively for engagingselectively said sheet supporting and positioning members, one pair ofsaid sheet engaging means permitting the respective sheets to bepositioned on said supporting members for one length of extensiontherefrom and the other pair of said sheet engaging means permitting therespective sheets t0 be positioned on said supporting members for adiierent length of extension therefrom whereby the sheets may bedisengaged from the supporting members, inverted and reengaged with saidsupporting members to expose selectively the other sides of said tabindicia, and the longitudinal spacing of said pairs of engaging meansalong the marginal edges of the sheets differing as between saidrespective dividing sheets whereby said respective sheets may be mountedon said supporting members in superimposed relation with the tabs on themarginal end edges of the sheets being exposed.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 807,783Shreiner Dec. 19, 1905 1,488,962 Ward Apr. 1, 1924 1,564,772 FischerDec. 8, 1925 1,607,829 Johnson Nov. 23, 1926 1,631,986 Ruscher .Tune 14,1927 2,652,059 Wassell Sept. 15, 1953 2,876,907 Amberg Mar. 10, 1959FOREIGN PATENTS 590,915 Great Britain July 31, 1947

